News Review #2

“Gary Johnson: ‘What is Aleppo?’”

CNN covered the incident from the “Morning Joe” show on MSNBC, where presidential nominee Gary Johnson was interviewed by hosts Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle. When asked about what he would do about the crisis in Aleppo, Johnson was confused and asked Barnicle, “And what is Aleppo?” While Johnson eventually began to share his thoughts on the Syrian crisis after receiving clarification from the hosts, Scarborough did point out the Libertarian nominee’s ignorance in not knowing the city currently at the center of the Syrian civil war.

Why you selected the story:

Seeing a headline about Johnson asking, “what is Aleppo” during an interview concerned me as he is a presidential nominee and knowing about Aleppo is such an integral part of understanding the entirety of the Syrian crisis. I selected this story because I am quite certain that this incident will have a great impact on Johnson’s polling, a devastating blow as the nominee only just recently began to gain momentum with his campaign.

How the story used or was treated in social media:

The hashtags #GaryJohnson and #Aleppo are trending on Twitter as many users are teasing him and now criticizing his presidential campaign as a result of his ignorance on the Syrian crisis.

Gary Johnson continues to be active on social media, but has not commented on the event or replied to critics.